Very fresh video
Added 2022-03-01 08:42:26 +0000 UTCSo fresh the description isn't even finished.
I absolutely love the way this project turned out. The PCB is a joy to solder and the tech-spec turned out perfect.
It's a dumb trickle charger that will slowly top your NiMH or Nicd cells up the hilt and then keep them there ready for use. The PCB can be cascaded along a common power bus and its power consumption is so low that it can be ignored.
It charges the cells gently enough that their inherent self-catalysis of end of charge gasses back into liquid electrolyte can happen in a relaxed fashion without excessive internal pressure build-up.
You can use a USB charger or a 5/6V solar panel to power it, and each channel has its own blocking diode to avoid discharge when unpowered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVnAH17f4jg
Comments
I'm not sure if that's really effective or not.
Big Clive
2022-03-15 02:18:54 +0000 UTCMany smart chargers have a mode to discharge a battery first, before recharging it. For nimh batteries, does this actually contribute to the health of the battery in any useful way?
David Glover-Aoki
2022-03-12 19:22:16 +0000 UTCThis project really needs a matching 3d printer enclosure Clive
Bas
2022-03-12 17:05:40 +0000 UTCI thought you were going to say 'determine the colours by touch' - that would have made them jump!!
Stephen Eyles
2022-03-05 20:17:14 +0000 UTCAt a careers event in the mid-80s, I was told be someone from a company that I won’t name that I had no chance of a career in electronics as I am colour blind. I still ended up in science and technology, but wonder where I would be if he had Clive’s attitude to colour codes!
2022-03-04 10:49:21 +0000 UTCYes, I also made a few of these a while back, very useful things!
2022-03-04 10:24:05 +0000 UTCThanks for the link - printing one now!
2022-03-04 03:14:14 +0000 UTCThose USB switch-mode power supplies are indeed not something to worry about. Of cause if you have loads of them connected it will in the end add up, but for now we can basically ignore those losses.
Frank
2022-03-03 09:53:21 +0000 UTCRe: Color codes. I was a telecom tech for 30 years and one of my early tasks was terminating 25-50-100 pair cables. One person once asked me how I knew where each color went. Being a smart-a** and also wearing hearing aids, I quipped, "It's really simple, you just have to be able to distinguish basic colors without a hearing aid!"
George Cohn
2022-03-03 04:04:44 +0000 UTCI printed that ages ago and it's been so helpful in making the most professional-looking components once they're soldered up compared to when I used to bend them freehand.
2022-03-02 05:25:47 +0000 UTCLow losses in a typical USB power supply, so very efficient.
Big Clive
2022-03-02 03:05:52 +0000 UTCFor those with 3D printers: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1022337
Russell Levine
2022-03-02 01:58:30 +0000 UTCEbay search "component lead bender" to find that tool.
mickey gauld
2022-03-02 01:24:40 +0000 UTCLooking forward to the gerbers. I have a little less than 200 of those micro USB connectors. They are quite handy for 5v applications. Just need to get battery holders.
Rocco Rizzo
2022-03-01 20:17:44 +0000 UTCTotally unrelated to this video and electronics for that matter. In last Saturdays Live Stream there was a small chat discussion about "Why is the sky blue?" Here is the answer in a 7 minutes Fermilab video explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mnlJdABRns
Zeedijk Mike
2022-03-01 19:46:07 +0000 UTCYou USB Power meter actually shows the power consumption to be 0.499W :-) What a great project. I bought a bunch of those 1 AA cell battery holders for a small Christmas gift project - 3D printed floating candles powered by a Joule Thief. (The original product has been featured on BC) I never used those battery holders, as they would make the candles too thick. Instead I used some battery holders with a lower profile, where you solder the positive and negative metal part in separately. So now I finally have a project where I can use those 1 AA cell battery holders so they don't go to waste.
Zeedijk Mike
2022-03-01 19:30:58 +0000 UTCSo the board runs at 0.5 watt how about the power adapter and the board ?
Tim Toone
2022-03-01 19:27:14 +0000 UTCThis was far more interesting than watching Tracey Island being made on Blue Peter. Me want soldering iron for my sixth birthday!
Ymir the Frost Giant
2022-03-01 17:03:04 +0000 UTC
